Statue of Sir John A. Comes to Life Today
by Jeff Mahoney, The Spectator Hamilton The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday, November 1, 1997 If only Michael Carl O’Neil could do for some of our present-day politicians what he is doing for Sir John A. Macdonald.
Bring them to life.
O’Neil is a mime and as such has a natural fellow-feelings for things that can’t speak. So when he thought about the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in Gore Park and its colourful history, he was curious about what would happen if that statue were to walk off its pedestal and mingle with the traffic.
So he made that hypothesis part of his busking act.
Today, on the 103rd anniversary of the unveiling of the statue in Hamilton, O’Neil will bring his mute characterization of our first prime minister to the Public Hanging ’97 art show in the Hamilton Eaton Centre.
He has taken his Sir John A. Macdonald through much of the country in the year since he has built it into his mime repertoire.
“I get many different reactions. One guy in Halifax gave me the finger. He said, “I’m French-Canadian and we don’t like Macdonald”.
“But another guy came up to me and hugged me around the shoulders and said what I was doing was wonderful”.
O’Neil has done his Macdonald statue bit in Hamilton, Ontario Place in Toronto, Kingston, Windsor, Orillia and even at the opening of the Confederation Bridge between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
It takes him more than two hours to apply the makeup, prosthetics (nose and chin) and wig that transform his head into the likeness of Sir John A., with a complexion of stone. And he has a costume to complete the illusion.
He starts his routine by standing stone still on a kind of makeshift pedestal.
“People walk up and think I’m an actual statue. Then I’ll wiggle a finger or something and they stand back and wait to watch the next victim for a laugh”.
As his character takes on more life, O’Neil tries to give an impression of how Macdonald would react to today’s society, with a lot of stunned expressions, humour and social commentary tossed in.
O’Neil explains that the Hamilton statue of Sir John A. Macdonald was the first in Canada. And it has had quite a career.
It was indirectly response for killing the fire chief in Hamilton in the early part of this century.
“They were racing to a call and somehow the fire chief flew out of the wagon and hit his head on the statue and was killed”.
“They moved the statue after that”. It had been in the middle of the street”.
O’Neil also makes the Queen Victoria statue come to life. That routine he uses mostly on international audiences. He spends a good portion of his time in places like Singapore, Thailand and England, following a kind of buskers’ circuit.
He is thinking of adding some new characters to the act – George Washington, for instance.
O’Neil/Macdonald will be at the Public Hanging ’97 on the third floor of the Hamilton Eaton Centre today from noon to 4:30 p.m.
The Royal Canadian Big Band Music Festival Official Program (page 6) 1997
Father of Confederation helps celebrate Canadian heritage While tribute artists recreate performers like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole on stage at the Royal Canadian Big Band Music Festival, an artist of another kind will add a sense of history and nationalism to the Canada Day event.
A "living statue" of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, will be featured in the People's Parade, June 28. In fact, says Festival Director, Tyrone Traher, Macdonald will be the centrepiece of the parade which will proceed from the Western Fair Grounds to the Talbot Block Big Band Dance and Performance Tent to kick off the Canada Day weekend of festivities.
The statue is portrayed by Hamilton, Ontario, native Michael Carl O'Neil, a professional mime artist also referred to as "Hamilton's own Charlie Chaplin".
His goal in celebrating Macdonald was to celebrate and re-introduce the "Father of Confederation". Using performance art and comedy, he first presented this persona on Parliament Hill last Canada Day with musical accompaniment.
The next stop was Sir John A.'s home ground at Kingston City Hall and further visits through Ontario and Quebec. O'Neil's statue was a hit in Kingston. "I was overwhelmed by (his) ability to portray our nation's foremost politician in such a light-hearted and amusing manner," said Mayor Gary Bennett. "The spirit of Sir John A. Macdonald is more alive than ever as a result of (his) comedic genius".
In November, O'Neil brought his creation home to Hamilton for the 1996 Grey Cup/Santa Claus parade, riding on the sesquicentennial float.
"The Festival is very much about Canadian pride and having the living statue of Sir John A. Macdonald as part of the festivities can only add to that celebration of our history and heritage", says Traher.
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The Royal Canadian Big Band Music Festival Official Program
1997 People Parade for Canada Day London will be treated to a major parade honouring the country's birthday by Ellen Ashton-Haiste Excerpts "Everyone loves a parade and what better occasion for one than Canada's birthday", says Tryone Traher.
"Many communities have Canada Day parades and London should have one too," the founder and executive director of the Royal Canadian Big Band Music Festival maintains.
The highlight of the parade will be an appearance of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Portrayed by professional mime artist, Michael Carl O'Neil of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada the country's Father of Confederation will finish off the parade in style, riding in a white landau pulled by a team of golden palominos.
O'Neil developed his living statue of Macdonald a year ago when he debuted his performance at Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He says the tribute is an attempt to bring him into the 1990s as a relevant figure.
Return to Article IndexAt the Arts Centre
Registered as a magazine at POHQ Wellington
P.O. Box 845
Christchurch, New Zealand
December/January
1996 Summer School
Internationally acclaimed street performer Michael Carl O'Neil will tutor one of the Arts Centre's adult workshops at the Annual Summer School, running from January 15th 19th, 1996.
This year the Arts Centre is presenting its programme in conjunction with the Christchurch Polytechnic Summer School, offering a combined total of 32 courses for adults.
Three five-day workshops will feature at the Arts Centre - Comic Improvisation and Theatresports; Mime and Stone Sculpting.
The Mime workshop will be led by Canadian mime artist Michael Carl O'Neil. O'Neil is an expert in the craft of mime and has worked with such celebrities as Tammy Wynette, Chubby Checker, Fats Domino and the Supremes.
The Shenanigan Brothers (a.k.a. Patrick Duffy and John Hudson) will lead the workshop on Comic Improvisation and Theatresports, Duffy and Hudson have toured extensively through New Zealand and Europe and both are experienced teachers.
Christchurch sculptor, Bon Suter will tutor the Stone Sculpting course. Suter has a wide knowledge of the arts, but for the past five years has concentrated on sculpture. In 1988, she took part in the South Island Stone Project at Spencer Park.
Further details on course costs, criteria, etc. are available in the 1996 Summer School Brochure which you can pick up from the Arts Centre or from the Polytech Information and Enrolment Office in Conventry St.Arts Beat (A Publication of the Hamilton & Region Arts Council)
October to November 1996 - Vol. 9 No. 3
Artist Profile -- Interview by Ivan Jurakic
An Interview with Performer
MICHAEL CARL O'NEIL
Michael Carl O'Neil is a Hamilton-based performer who has taken his craft to many parts of the world. Although he has performed on stage and media, he is perhaps best known as a street performer. At festivals and events it is likely that at some point you have seen him performing silently as the "Little Tramp" or perhaps recently as one of his trademarked "Living Statues".
AB: How do you feel that people perceive you?
MO'N: Some people see me as this esoteric character. They don't know much about me. They see me at parades or at different functions in the city and they can't put a finger on it. They didn't know who the heck this guy is, what he's all about, and why is he doing it. All they say is that, whatever he does, it's working. He appears and disappears.
AB: How did you get involved in performing?
MO'N: Well, when I was young, I did school productions and an instructor told me that I should do clowning. I played a janitor with all this powder in his hair and I would fall and all this powder would fly out of my hair, and I would get a big laugh and from there the seed was planted. I used to watch people on TV and try to imitate them. Once they were doing a Charlie Chaplin act at the library and I told them that I did Chaplin. Of course, I never had and I practiced and started doing it and from there it took a life of its own.
AB: So basically, you are self-trained.
MO'N: Well no, later on I had tutors and I read about performance and mime. I became a student of the art form. I felt if I had a literary knowledge, it would give me a better understanding. It would save me the trouble, time and money of going to a class, to find out that another person's trick or philosophy was not the direction I wanted to go. I once made the mistake of going to Winnipeg to study under a teacher who learned from a master of mime. I would have saved myself a lot, a lot of time by just simply reading the book.
AB: Do you consider yourself an actor, mime or performer?
MO'N: I would say I am an actor because I perceive it as an actor. I believe the body is a way to tell a story. I am a great believer of the face as a powerful tool. I am influenced by British humour which is great for character, so I would say that I am more of an actor than a mime, but I steal from the mime school. I've had a lot of fun with mimes who take themselves too seriously.
AB: What were your early paid gigs like?
MO'N: One of the first I ever did was at Hamilton Place and I got to meet Marcelle Marceau and I remember showing him the walk and I was able to get backstage. Later, I was hired at Wonderland and this was great, and I was doing it everyday, and I was scared out of my wits. So they were showing me around and it dawned on me that I would do it like a movie, because if you go to a theme park, it is like a movie. It worked great, but now I am presented with an interesting problem because when I watch myself on video tape, my movements are much more real than they are in life. I have got to the point where I am doing it better in the movie than I do it in life.
AB: How about your experiences abroad?
MO'N: I was in Disneyland. The agent flew me down and I did my gig and American humour, unlike humour in Europe or in Asia, is much more one-on-one: bam, bam, bam! So I tried to use an American approach. It was only after my show that I was talking to someone who told me" oh, I liked it when you were slower". What I mean by slower is allowing people into your world and letting them explore it with you. For example, when I was in New Zealand, I found shows had to be longer because audiences were more patient. I, the character, tell the story.
AB: What's the main difference performance styles outside of North America?
MO'N: The characters are much more defined. Take Mr. Bean, a classic recreation of the silent clowns. What makes Bean so wonderful is that it's slow and has a nice pace and people can get into it, but you could go to any video store and sit down, take a pencil and paper and figure out the references? All the routines that have been done by everybody. It's universal. You don't need to know the background to get it. ("What's old is new again").
AB: What about the "Living Statue" concepts?
MO'N: It came to me when I was in New Zealand and I saw a fellow artist to do Captain Cook, as a statue. This idea of John A. Macdonald as a Living Statue came to mind. For most people, he is either a $10 bill or a statue, and I thought it would be an interesting concept if we would have me in costume and make-up on this stand and at a certain moment the character would come alive and he would interact with the audience. So I came up with ten unique characteristics of John A., and then from there to a point where we captured the spirit of the thing. I have been up in Ottawa at least 3 times and in Orillia and Hull. I was very nervous in Quebec because I wasn't too sure how it would be accepted, but you know - it turned out great.
AB: Are you worried about being pigeonholed as the statue guy or Charlie?
MO'N: No, because they won't know me because of the makeup. You have to remember, it is a 2 hour makeup job just to do John A., so the character is going to be so unique, and I don't think people will even know it is me. With Charlie, good or bad, people follow me and people know who I am. I'll always have a soft spot for Charlie.
AB: Do people want to associate you - the person - as the characters you portray?
MO'N: Yeah, it can be troubling in the sense that unlike a classical actor doing Shakespeare, they don't expect you to be doing it everyday, but they perceive that you have a sort of relationship with that character. Some actors are perfectly happy being the character 24 hours a day and other people have a need to separate themselves. I'm in between. But this is what I do for a living, so what do I do? Do I deny the fact that people see me that way and pretend that I don't want them to notice me? You have to have a sort of balance, and I guess that is where growth and maturity comes from. Either they want you to be it all the time or they ignore you.
AB: What is your motivation as a performer?
MO'N: I'm reminded of what one of my friends said, "what is your motivation?". He said "the pay cheque". So I don't really have a problem, whatever role I do. I did a video. I have done commercials, radio and I have performed around the city and travelled. I have played a bug! Work is work. I perceive it that way and a workman is worth his hire. I am an artist, but I am also a person who has to make a living at what I have chosen to do. I do have a soft spot for the Charlie Chaplin character.
AB: What about the business side of travelling and performing?
MO'N: First of all I realised the most important tool is networking, and so I developed a mailing list and from there a page on the internet, the whole thing. I am by no means as soon as some as I know in the market, but I have developed.
AB: How often are you travelling these days?
MO'N: Well, it's gotten worse in the sense that it's got to the point now where I almost have to take a postcard of Hamilton to remember it. This year alone started in Thailand, and then New Zealand. I was in Ottawa, Kingston, Taiwan, Prince George, B.C., Cambridge, Tillsonburg, Orillia, Hull and back. I am waiting to hear about Welland and then we go to Kitchener for Oktoberfest, and then overseas. When I am not performing I get antsy, but I must say it is very hard to reconnect all the time. That's the toughest part. I don't how these guys do it. You fly in, and everyone is going about their business and it's back to work.The 8th Annual Kingston Buskers Rendezvous
July 11, 12, 13, 14, 1996presented by the Kingston Whig-Standard
Downtown Kingston!Page 42 - Kingston's Souvenir Programme
Michael Carl O'Neil
He's back! Everyone's favourite mime has returned to Kingston with his spontaneous show times. He's been to the U.S., Thailand, Japan and all over Canada to share his brilliant performance of the Little Tramp - Charlie Chaplin. Seeing this bowler hatted, cane waving figure coming towards you is guaranteed to raise a smile.
This year's Mr. O'Neil will unveil a new character, one close to Kingston's heart. Be ready for the appearance of the Living Statue - Sir John A. Macdonald returns.
Remember:
Be on the lookout for Charlie Chaplin's spontaneous performances.
New Zealand -- Capital Times - Wellington's smart arts weekly.
Vol. 21 - No. 42 - March 13 - 19, 1996
Round the World The Life of the International Street Performer by Warwick Bright
Look around the streets and you might just see Charlie Chaplin shuffling along, Bobarino Gravatini running around in a dress juggling ping pong balls in and out of his mouth or Le la Les playing musical instruments out of less than obvious orifices. You may not realise it, but you are watching someone who's career takes them all over the world.
They are not buskers. They are street performers. What's the difference? Buskers play and sing songs in front of a beckoning guitar case as a train-load of people wander on by. Street performers are an entirely different breed.
Street performance is like vaudeville without a roof. Like a circus without a tent. It can require the talents of a gymnast, a clown, a musician, an actor and a business person. Walk in the shoes of these guys and you walk with artists cruising on the cutting edge of performance, where the crowd can (and does) walk away any time they choose. Hopefully they stop, at least for a while, and get caught up in the act.
The world's street performers will spend the European summer in Europe and North America. When winter arrives and the streets get too cold, the southern hemisphere becomes the target market. Performers like Michael Carl O'Neil (aka Chaplin) are their own managers. They are a global enterprise that escapes the attention of most who watch. Gone are the days when acts were tired to a travelling carnival or circus. This business surfs the internet seeking out bookings anywhere from South give Wellington an international carnival atmosphere. Capper-Starr sees them as, "the face of the Festival".
The life of a street performer may sound like a pretty way to live. Just like the army, you get to work, meet people, travel the world, and get paid, and unlike the army, you don't have to kill anyone. It is, however, by no means an easy way to make a buck. The fee paid by the organisers is usually minimal just enough to ensure that the acts will be there on the street helping everyone have a good time. From there it's up to the act to scrape up a living. They have to pay for airfares and a place to stay. Don't think a professional street performer is being greedy when they put that hat out.
The hardest thing to deal with is being away from the family for long periods, says Bobarino Gravitini, whose family spend half of the year at their home in Rhode Island (USA), and the other half travelling with him around Europe's festival circuit. On this trip, he's been away for a month, first in Japan and now here. It'll be a month before he gets back to them, but this has been his job for the last 16 years and its what he loves. At our festival, he teams up with Le La Les, an at he knows from the European circuit. He's sharing a flat with them and their children, as well as doing a joint show with them at the Repertory. As with most of the performers here, they have shows at theatres as well as going out on the street.
It's on the street that crowd interaction becomes the voice of the community. They can bring the public into their fantasy - sometimes letting people know about their observations of the human character, but more often than not giving them a laugh.
O'Neil the mime artist: "In street performance you want to get the crowd involved as an artist you want to make them laugh, to make them cry; to touch them, to move them."
So if you're walking around at lunch time and you see someone doing something that's a tad unusual, it might pay to stop for a moment and see just what they're up to. It's likely that they are performer from somewhere in the world that' popped over to make you laugh.Location: Christchurch
Tuesday, January 9, 1996 page 3Mime artist strikes Chaplin pose in Christchurch. Canadian mime artist, Michael Carl O'Neil, strikes pose as Charlie Chaplin outside the Arts Centre in Worcester Boulevard yesterday. O'Neil has travelled the world for 25 years as a mime artist, and is in Christchurch to present a mime workshop and take part in the World Buskers Festival. He has worked with United State celebrities, such as Tammy Wynette and Del Shannon. O'Neil learnt some of his trade as a 15-year-old travelling with a musical band of 70-year-olds, who performed a Charlie Chaplin-Gene Kelly theme. He said a clear technique was important when performing mime and great mimes could be `seen thinking". The mime workshop runs from January 15 to January 19 and the Buskers Festival from January 19 to January 27.
Bangkok Post - Tuesday, December 26, 1995
Let's celebrate New Year in a Big Way
The Dusit Thani
Meet Canadian Charlie Chaplin, Michael Carl O'Neil alias Charlie Chaplin or the Little Tramp from Dec. 23 to January 1, 1996 for both lunch and dinner. This is a quiet fellow with moustache, bowler hat and funny walk and will be roaming the various outlets of the Dusit Thani in Bangkok. He mimics, plays prays and generally charms everyone he meets. Michael Carl began his career of mime and "Interactional Theatre" since the age of 15 and has performed extensively across North America, receiving numerous awards and citations.
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The Tillsonburg News - August 11, 1995
Experience Tillsonburg next weekend Experience Tillsonburg, one of the busiest weekends of the summer of the town is coming up next weekend.
One of the highlights of the weekend will be the return appearance of "Charlie Chaplin" to Tillsonburg. Chaplin, actually Michael Carl O'Neil, was part of the first Experience Tillsonburg weekend two years ago. O'Neil wowed crowds with his impersonations of the famous mime. This year he will be bringing "Officer Bosco" (Kevin Prentice), a classic Keystone Cop, to town with him. The two members of the Klassic Komedy Theatre Troupe will be performing throughout the downtown area on Thursday and Friday mornings from 11am. until 2 p.m., Friday evening from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Besides Tillsonburg, O'Neil has performed on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Japan, Thailand and a street performers festival in Edmonton.
The Windsor Star - August 28, 1995
Excerpts from Buskers bow out: The International Busker Festival"Performers unanimous in praise of Windsor" by Blair Crawford
Star Staff Reporter
The flaming torches were extinguished, the trampoline folded away. Flat Top strolled on to the rain-dampened stage, not to gyrate through his dance routine, but to look for a missing microphone cord.Michael O'Neil, better know for the past 10 days as the little tramp, took off his Charlie Chaplin moustache - and spoke.
"Make no mistake about it. This is a business," said O'Neil, whose silent-movie buffoonery livened more than a few shows at the first Windsor Busker Festival.
"I started last November in Thailand, took a bit of time off in January, worked my way across Canada this summer and now I'm waiting to hear if I'm going to Japan".
The buskers festival is over and the performers have moved on to new towns, new streets and new crowds. For O'Neil, who strolled through the city in his role as an "animator" adding spontaneity for other buskers' shows, the Windsor gig was guaranteed. He earned a salary for his 10 days of work.
Excerpts from Fort Erie Weekly - April 1995
Traffic Stoppers
Buskers try out for Friendship Festival role
by Brian price
Special to the ReviewA Hamilton man held up traffic in downtown Fort Erie Saturday but nobody complained.
Dressed as Charlie Chaplin, the cane-toting tramp from the silent screen, Michael O'Neil, along with Kevin Prentice as Officer Bosco, delighted motorists along Jarvis Street near Central Avenue during a tryout for the Friendship Festival's busker performers. The Friendship Festival, a joint project between Canada and the U.S., runs between June 29 and July 4 and attracts some 100,000 people each year. If selected, O'Neil and Prentice will be two of about a dozen such buskers entertaining festival goers with their routines.
Buskers, around since the time of the Roman empire, are street performers who amuse passersby through music, comedy, juggling and other forms of entertainment.
O'Neil was first attracted to the theatre during his high school days, but has faced considerable barriers getting to where he is as a partner in Klassic Komedy, a street theatre troupe known all over the world.
Having suffered from both dyslexia and epilepsy for all his life, O'Neil's upward climb to fame hasn't been an easy one. But, the 36-year old single actor hardly considers himself disabled.
The son of a steel worker, O'Neil says the Charlie Chaplin persona of a rebellious vagabond down on his luck suits O'Neil's own type of character.
"Chaplin kind of relates to me", O'Neil said. "And he relates to the type of classical comedy I do". While passing motorists and pedestrians watched Saturday, O'Neil continually stopped vehicles and, at times, even stretched himself along the hoods of cars.
Those inside only laughed, but soon a few good blasts from the horn drove him off. Prentice, as Bosco, would grab O'Neil by the ear and drag him to the sidewalk where he would silently lecture him on the finer points of traffic safety. But like the character he represents, O'Neil was soon back on the street dodging cars and generally creating havoc.
O'Neil says his real goal is to establish a theatre company that follows along the lines of the Circus of the Sun where he would also teach acting.
He has performed his Chaplin routine thousands of times in front of crowds in places like Taiwan, Japan, Holland and in Canada at Canada's Wonderland and the Canadian National Exhibition.
The most original act of the day literally took its audition to the street. Michael O'Neil and Kevin Prentice stopped traffic on Jarvis while performing a Charlie Chaplin-Keystone Cop routine they'd been polishing for about six months. Mr. O'Neil, who does the Chaplin shtick, has been at it for about 20 years, but was only recently joined by Mr. Prentice, who plays Officer Bosco.
Both men are actors by profession, and Mr. Prentice described busking as "guerrilla theatre".
"It is very different," he said. "Busking requires a whole set of skills that a stage actor doesn't need. With stage actors, there's a contract between the audience and the performers. Out on the street, you make a different deal with the crowd every time you start. There are crowds that give you a rough time and you've just got to bounce with it, work with it."
Other crowds stand silently and watch, he said, and still others want to get involved in the act.
Mr. O'Neil described busking as "the new vaudeville", that's slowly gaining popularity, on a world-wide circuit.
"There are two types of buskers today, he said, the festival busker who works on a per diem plus "the hat", and the traditional street corner busker who works for hats profits alone.
"As you move up the ladder, you move toward the more organised," Mr. O'Neil said. It's the new vaudeville. It used to be in halls, and now you have festivals. It's very common for an entertainer to go from one side of the country to the other, doing festivals".
EXCERPTS FROM THE TORONTO STAR
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 1995
"World's his stage for surprising the disbelievers"
Street performer has circled the globe playing to the hearts of crowds.
by Rick Whelan
Special to the Toronto Star
On a recent sun-filled Sunday afternoon, untroubled families strolled down a crowded city street, drinking in the day's exquisite perfection. Suddenly, a seedy, belligerent tramp interrupts the gentle flow of humanity. The tramp, who bears a passing resemblance to Charlie Chaplin, exudes a kind of rough energy, openly challenging the complacent bliss of the passers-by.
The tramp spots a yuppie couple with a toddler attached to one end of those kiddie-leashes. Ignoring the parents, the tramp pats the youngster on the head, scratches him behind the ear and tosses a stick for him to go fetch. When the child fails to perform to his expectations, the tramp moves on.
He next approaches a pregnant woman. He taps her on the shoulder, mimes her fulsome belly and shakes his head vigorously, as if denying any personal responsibility for her current condition. The assembled audience howls with laughter at this crude burlesque. Their approval seems to feed the tramp's comedic frenzy. He searches the horizon for more raw material ... more unsuspecting marks just waiting for his in-your-face brand of guerrilla street theatre.
Astute observers of human nature would conclude this tramp is used to audience reaction. And they would be right. For this wandering Puck is not a real tramp at all, but rather a full-time professional street performer named Michael Carl O'Neil.
Street performer -- the ancient art of busking -- has been around for a as long as there have been city streets where an enterprising wag could earn a little pocket money making people laugh. It's basically unchanged from the days when irreverent Roman clowns would lurk outside the Colosseum to entertain (and milk) a crowd sated by a day of blood-letting. Today (as in Roman times) people like their entertainment raw and unadorned and busking's popularity is experiencing boom times.It's the new vaudeville", O'Neil told a curious reporter recently. The world is really becoming a global market for buskers. It's getting to the point where an artist can ply his trade anywhere in the world".
As if to prove his theory correct, O'Neil is currently on an extended tour of southeast Asia that will take him and his boisterous little street character to Thailand and New Zealand.
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Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest - Canada's Great Bavarian Festival
August, Vol. 18, No. 1 "Zeitung Souvenir Annual - October 7-15, 1994"
page 33People: Charlie by Kim Winger
With a twitch of the nose, a twirl of a cane and a flip of a hat, Charlie Chaplin is a character likely to bring a smile to not only the young, but the young at heart. Back again by popular demand to this year's K-W Oktoberfest, Charlie a.k.a. Michael O'Neil will spread the spirit of Gemuetlichkeit. Over the nine days of festivities, he will provide on-street entertainment as well as make numerous guest appearances at the Festhallen and family events.
No matter where you are during the Festival, Charlie may magically appear to share some laughter and joy. Guaranteed, Charlie will leave you with a memorable impression and a smile on your face!Edmonton International Street Performers Festival (1992)
July, 1992 - Official Souvenir Program BookMichael Carl O'Neil
Charlie Chaplin is no longer trapped within the silent screen. Michael Carl O'Neil has forged a new life for the world's most famous clown through a new technique called interaction theatre. Michael plucks the little tramp from the silent screen and brings him into the 90's by fashioning audiences into extras, the buildings around him into sets, and himself into the "wee soul".
Animating the spirit and appeal of the original character with style and integrity, Michael Carl's Chaplin is a highly respected character act. Performing from the age of fifteen, Michael has appeared in commercials, at festivals, fairs and special events across the continent. Based in Ontario, he has opened for such notables as Rich Little, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, Latoya Jackson, Ray Charles, and Tammy Wynette. He has also appeared at street festivals in Halifax, Kingston and Waterloo, Michael was the featured act for the month of
April in Osaka, Japan, Expo '90, an experienced captured in a featured magazine article called "Charlie Chaplin Takes Japan!".
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The TV Monitor & the Lowdown - Week of Wednesday, May 23, 1990
by Michael Duff, Entertainment Editor
Charlie Chaplin takes Japan
From Hamilton to Osaka
When I was a boy, I used to see the old Japanese movies dubbed in English. I also watched a Jerry Lewis movie, Geisha Boy, made in the late `50s about a not-very-successful magic act performer who decides to do a government sponsored tour of Japan.
In the film, Jerry Lewis and his rabbit entertained a young Japanese brother and sister. The three formed a friendship, and Lewis became a highly successful performer before returning to the United States. Unknowingly, that planted a seed.
From Michael O'Neil's diary, April 1990.
Hamilton native Michael O'Neil, 31 is now a successful entertainer himself. A renowned Charlie Chaplin imitator, he has performed in nightclubs, at festivals and on street corners throughout North America.
Early this month, O'Neil returned from two weeks of playing Chaplin at the Ontario government pavilion at Expo 90 in Osaka, Japan.
"I couldn't believe I was there. I kept touching things to see if they were real," O'Neil said in an interview last week. "It's one thing to go to Halifax, but it's another thing to go to the other side of the world".
O'Neil's job on the Expo site was to appear in his Chaplin costume - bowler hat, suit, moustache, white face and cane and charm visitors into the Ontario pavilion.
He portrays the Chaplin who starred in English music halls, the clown who danced, did pratfalls and played with the audience. O'Neil's Chaplin never speaks, and constantly improvises.
The performance was based, throughout the two weeks, on the premise of having Charlie there to entertain and draw, or be a reference point for the site. Creatively, it was important for Michael to stay on the side and let Charlie come through, but I felt somewhat like the fellow dressed in a chicken suit trying to get people into the circus.
A clever mimic, O'Neil started studying his audience as soon as he arrived in Tokyo on April 14.
"I took the train down to Osaka and there were two Japanese men sitting across from me. I started imitating everything they did: when they picked up a napkin, I picked up a napkin," he said.
"Later, I watched television in my room golf, baseball, the Japanese preoccupation with their teeth. It was a 24-hour lesson. I was letting culture sink in".
It seems his homework paid off. Canadian officials were initially sceptical of Chaplin's appeal in the Orient, but O'Neil first appearance was convincing.
"We walked from the Ontario pavilion to the press centre that was about a mile away. I had to work the whole way", O'Neil said. "They were amazed at the improvisation with people. After that there was no problem."
"I was told that the Japanese are a shy people. I decided to play Charlie even shyer. Thus, they would come to me more than I would go to them. I have Charlie go about his regular routine as if it were a giant movie. The people and buildings are sets, and God is watching the movie".
Elusive
O'Neil's Chaplin has always been an elusive character. The mime estimates he has performed the role more than 1,000 times during the past 14 years. "I've never had a picture of me (without makeup) in the newspaper, and I rarely show up after a show", O'Neil said. "I believe "less is best". You give the audience a bit, then you leave. It brings mystery".
The son of a nursing aide and steelworker , O'Neil grew up near the Hamilton Mountain Brow, attending Eastmount Park and Crestwood Vocational schools.
A slim man, with broad features, blue eyes and dark, receding hair, O'Neil is an epileptic (involves rare nocturnal seizures which are under control with medication), and has dyslexia, a learning disability.
(He still finds writing difficult, and keeps his journal and creates his routines by dictating into a tape-recorder).
Discovering the stage was a turning point in his life. "In grade 6, I was in a school play", O'Neil said. "I played an old man. I'd fall down and get huge laughs" the teachers all said I should be a clown".
He started performing as Chaplin in public libraries, hospitals and nursing homes; he dressed as Chaplin to feed sick children at the Rygiel Home; he told audiences at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to imagine the little comedian in their minds, then made his sightless audience laugh with Chaplin noises.
During his teenage years, O'Neil performed with the Golden Senior Citizen Band throughout the province, and in 1985 worked a summer at Canada's wonderland outside of Toronto.
For a while, the budding artist even worked at Hamilton Place, although hired only to wander through the lobby during intermissions. "I taught (singer) Cleo Laine how to do a pratfall," O'Neil recalls.
Lulu'sNow, Hamilton's Chaplin takes his talent farther from home. He has performed in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Halifax, Winnipeg, St. Louis and on television commercials.
When in this area, he works regularly at Lulu's Nightclub in Kitchener, mingling with the crowd throughout the evening. "Lulu's is great gig. I've been there off and on since '86," O'Neil said. "We developed this routine where the bouncers chase me. It's kind of embarrassing for the headliner doing the show, though.."
JapanO'Neil was always been his own agent, and leaped when he saw an opportunity to visit Japan.
"I was at Ontario Place taking my makeup off after a show, and this other performer was telling me about working at Expo. I thought: "I have to get that gig", O'Neil said.
He contacted the Ontario government, even offering to play Chaplin dressed as a Mountie or a lumberjack.
I had developed an interest in Japanese culture. I'd seen documentaries on Japanese life and was quite enamoured at what I was seeing". When the doors opened for Osaka, it seemed only a question of walking (or bowing and walking) through the door.
O'Neil said he liked Japan and hopes to return.
And he hopes his example inspires people who live with similar physical disabilities.
"A lot of artists come from painful backgrounds," O'Neil said. "I remember walking up the Mountain once and thinking: "I'm going to conquer Hamilton". And I did".Excerpt: Large or small, city or town, all retain farm flavour
by Don Collins, The London Free Press - September 1989
The weekend offered a contrast in style and size: Parkhill's 131st Town and Country Fair and London's 114th Western FairA FACE FROM THE PAST Some visitors to Western Fair get the feeling that Charlie Chaplin has returned from the great beyond, but what they are seeing is Chaplin look-alike Michael O'Neil of Hamilton who wanders the grounds and midway doing his act. O'Neil, who says he doesn't really like some of Chaplin's personal issues, but respect and admire his abilities as an actor and creator, may get a chance to imitate the comedy great at Las Vegas (More details on areas fairs are on page B3)
Page B3
HERE'S CHARLIE:
A 45-minute drive to the southeast puts you in contact with Charlie Chaplin. The odd thing about Charlie Chaplin is that he doesn't really like Charlie Chaplin - as a person, however, the actor and his abilities as an artist is greatly respected.
This is partly because he is really Michael O'Neil, and at 30, was long after the era of the ingenious little comedian. But with the little black moustache in place, the funny clothes, the feet turned out at a ridiculous angle, the crazy walk and the sad, expressive eyes, his presence at the 114th Western Fair in London is enough to convince some that Chaplin has returned from the great beyond.
O'Neil, of Hamilton, has been making his living as a Charlie Chaplin look-alike since 1985. If all goes well, he will soon be on stage at Las Vegas.
MILITARY ON PARADE:
Meanwhile, Charlie (O'Neil) Chaplin is coping with crowds that turned upSaturday for the Warrior's Day Parade, which drew military people from as far as away as Michigan. Occasionally, someone tries to talk to him. But true to the character, he portrays as he shuffles around, he remains silent.
"People tend to tell you their problems". He thinks it has something to do with his sad eyes.The Chronicle-Herald - Wednesday, August 23, 1988
Busker silently appeals for volunteers
by Peter Duffy, Staff Reporter (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
A hard part of a busker's job can be to obtain a volunteer from the audience, but it's twice as hard when the performer isn't allowed to speak.
Michael O'Neil brought his Charlie Chaplin act to Halifax-Dartmouth for Buskers '88 and, of course, Chaplin made his name by never uttering a sound. O'Neil's lips are also sealed while he performs.
"I don't speak", he said. "I tell them by my eyes or my hands that I won't make you do anything that will make you look silly".
People who make good volunteers include children and, for some reason which bemuses O'Neil, older women.
Once he has convinced someone to come forward, he said, he places them in a spot exactly where he wants them. "Then I can take some liberties".
Matter of Trust:
The busker picks a likely volunteer by scanning for someone who looks willing, seems to be in good shape, and appears both enthusiastic and able to take direction.
"You can usually tell all this by how someone is standing, how they are reacting".
If the "volunteer" is reluctant to come forward. O'Neil says he uses the power of the audience to convince him to step into the circle.
"Then they usually give in; it's a half win. I then have to convince the volunteer totally."
O'Neil said he is puzzled why people are reluctant to come forward from the
If something "bad" was going to happen to someone. O'Neil said, logically it would be more likely to happen to them in the crowd, rather than standing in the space in the centre.
"Yet people are willing to stay in the crowd, where they don't know anyone and there could even be a pickpocket there."The Chronicle-Herald - The Mail-Star
by James Latter, Staff Reports, Saturday, October 15, 1988 Atlantic Winter Fair "Little Tramp is a Crowd Pleaser"
Dressed in baggy pants with suspenders, wearing over-sized shoes and a frock coat, a cane-twirling, bowler-hatted Michael O'Neil strolls the Atlantic Winter Fair grounds as an instantly recognisable figure.
But Mr. O'Neil, who downs thick makeup and a false moustache for six shows daily, feels his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp is not mere imitation.
A professional actor, Mr. O'Neil, a resident of Hamilton, Ont., disdains the type of performers who try to shape themselves in the exact external image of a character, without making an attempt to understand its basic motivation.
"I'm taking a character and searching for its essence and truth", said Mr. O'Neil, dismissing some entertainers, like Elvis Presley impersonators, whom he says are engaged in "a form of hero worship".
The little tramp persona was created by Charlie Chaplin for a silent film in 1914, the actor said.
The peculiar character, whose quirky gestures and quaint manners have been mimicked by many, later appeared in movies like Modern Times and City Lights, the former of which dealt with gritty and surprisingly contemporary subjects, such an unemployment and cocaine addiction.
Mr. O'Neil, who presents the tramp as the older and more melancholy figure of this later period, sees in his subject "a gallant man fighting the foe".
Always caught up in battles, this classic character, a mixture of clown and crusader, provided his portrayer, who suffered from learning disabilities as a child, with an early means for self-expression.
Today he's grateful, but wary of succumbing to the temptation of identifying too closely with the role".
"As Michael", he said, "I have to have a strong identity of my own. The most difficult thing is that Charlie gets instant gratification (from the crowd), whereas Michael has to wait for it".The Mail - Star Wednesday, August 17, 1988
Excerpt: Buskers warm to metro reception
Good feelings are contagious, just ask the buskers.
The 90 street performers in Halifax-Dartmouth for the Buskers '88 festival are marvelling at the warm reception being given them, even when they are not performing.
"It's amazing. I've had people, even children, come up to me walking down the street and put money in my hand," said Hamilton's Michael (Charlie Chaplin) O'Neil.
One day he was walking by a downtown Halifax restaurant, he said, and a woman leaned through an open window and handed him a slice of cake.
People, break into smiles when they recognise him strolling by. O'Neil said he does a little Chaplin shuffle for them, which makes them smile even more. "You know you are getting to them. It's a heart-to-heart thing".The McMaster Silhouette, Thursday, November 10, 1977
by Jane Depraitere Silhouette Staff Poor turnout for excellent performance
Only four people were present for the excellent performance of The Life and Times of Joseph F. Kenney by Mike O'Neil, Convocation Hall, University Hall.
O'Neil shone like a star despite lack of tangible scenery and adequate props. The play required much improvisation on O'Neil's part which he did with undeniable flair.
The power of O'Neil as an actor, made characters appear out of thin air as he spoke to them. The characters seemed to come alive.
The story began with O'Neil as a soldier returning from Vietnam, a hero. When speaking in front of the church's congregation about his experiences in Vietnam, he flatly stated he didn't believe in God.
He returned from the church and was grief-stricken over the death of his brother, John. Joseph felt that he himself should have died. While he was praying that he could die, he felt God for the first time.
After his discovery of God, Joseph began to work for the church. He became disillusioned with it since it spent four hundred dollars making posters for the local candidate for the senate in hopes that it would be repaid in a greater way.
The years go by and Joseph became a minister and later a senator-minister. His next move was to run for the presidency.
The plot did not end there, although, unfortunately, the performance did, due to time factors. Even though the performance wasn't completed, one fact was made clear. Mike O'Neil can act and his performance in The Life and Times of Joseph F. Kenney has to be seen to be believed.
The Life and Times of Joseph F. Kenney, will be playing Friday and Saturday at Convocation Hall. Tickets are $2.00 in advance and $2.50 at the door.
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First Article Written about Michael Carl O'Neil's Charlie Chaplin
Hamilton Spectator - 1975 - M. Tammer, Spectator Staff Edna Woodley befriended by the Little Tramp Charlie Chaplin wows the seniors Dundas - The look changed from suspicion to recognition when the Wentworth Lodge resident saw Charlie Chaplin walking through the senior citizen's complex.
He was dressed in his Little Tramp outfit, the shuffle was unmistakable, and the Chaplin antics were straight from yesteryear.
"Oh, that's Charlie Chaplin," said the senior citizen.
"Is he coming to stay here?"
Indeed, the ghost of Charlie Chaplin did walk through the senior citizens' home on South Street in Dundas recently.
Mike O'Neil has been doing the imitation in the area for two years, and he says the laughter and the memories he spawns are well worth the effort.
Mike, 16, of East 23rd Street, Hamilton, became a Chaplin fan several years ago when he developed an interest in mime theatre.
"Chaplin was a character who was also very realistic," he said. "I started doing him after seeing a few of his films, and the more I did him, the more I enjoyed it".
With a pair of shoes that even the Little Tramp would reject, his grandfather's shirt, a Salvation Army vest, his father's old tie, and little brother's jacket, Mike becomes Chaplin.
"When I'm in costume, I don't feel self-conscious," he said. "Nobody can recognise you and it feels like you can do anything".
Touring the corridors of Wentworth Lodge, it was obvious that the senior citizens' enjoyed the impromptu visit.
"Oh, he's very good indeed," said 89 year-old Edna Woodley. "He really is Charlie Chaplin".
Herb Hall, 86, was enjoying a quiet day in the sun in front of the lodge when the Little Tramp sat down next to him. It was like greeting a long-lost friend.
"I remember going to see Chaplin movies," said Mr. Hall. "This young man looks perfect".
Mike has put on his show in schools and senior citizens' homes through the area, and he said it is the elderly who enjoy the show the most.
"I guess it's just the recognition," he said. "At first, it's just shock, because rather than put on a show, I like to walk up and surprise them; but after that, the response is fantastic."
Jeanne Pratt, recreation director of the lodge, said Mike's Chaplin impersonation was like a breath of spring for the senior citizens. The future may hold a position in the food services business.
"I just enjoy doing it. Theatre is really just a hobby. I'll do it anywhere, anytime".
P.S.: This article has obviously not been edited "Theatre was to be a hobby" according to my late father, Garfield Lorne O'Neil, who was a very dedicated, and hard-working Steel worker in Hamilton.
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